Keyes gets $10 million for better drinking water, on top of $10.4 million earlier
Keyes is getting $10 million of the $609 million announced Wednesday for clean-water projects in California, on top of $10.4 million earlier from another source.
The $10 million, for treatment of pesticide residue, comes from the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill signed nearly a year ago by President Joe Biden. It will go to many projects that remove pollutants from water, many of them in largely low-income places like Keyes.
Officials gathered at a plant that already filters arsenic from wells supplying the 1,500 or so customers of the Keyes Community Services District. It earlier got $10.4 million to retire part of a state loan for that project, completed in 2019.
The new grant will add treatment of a chemical called 1,2,3-trichloropropane. It is scheduled to be in place by 2024, district General Manager Ernie Garza said.
The event included Yana Garcia, environmental protection secretary for Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Martha Guzman, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’re here at the Keyes Community Services District because it is a great example of the kind of projects that we should be investing in,” Garcia said.
Garza said his customers would have faced sharp water rate increases without the grants.
Other projects to be announced
The $609 million will be distributed by the State Water Resources Control Board. It has not yet announced where the money will go besides Keyes.
The bipartisan infrastructure act will provide funding over five years for transportation, water, broadband, energy, forestry and other efforts. California is adding substantial funding thanks to its $97 billion budget surplus.
Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater but at high levels can cause cancer and problems with skin and blood circulation, according to the state board. It said 1,2,3-trichloropropane is a carcinogen.
Five outlying water users
The plant was built on Jessup Road, just west of Highway 99. The project included the town of Keyes, four mobile home parks in the area, and the Faith Home Ranch addiction treatment center. These outlying sites have private wells that were connected to the plant with 2.5 miles of pipeline.
“We’ve been on board for three years now, and we’re happy to see this additional treatment,” said Margo Ely, recently retired operations supervisor for Faith Home.
The other outlying connections were to Mobile Plaza Park, Countryside Mobile Home Park, Green Run Mobile Estates and Orchard Village Mobile Home Park.
This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
